I had an interesting night on Twitter the other night. Earlier that day, I read some tweets sent out by female rapper Azealia Banks towards former Vice Presidential candidateSarah Palin. You can read some of the comments at TMZ and Mrs. Palin’s response. After reading them, I decided to tweet her.

Photo courtesy of missinfo.tv

In keeping with full disclosure, I had hoped she would respond for three reasons. First, Ms. Banks’ tweets really pissed me off. Her responses were unnecessary and full of hatred. The article she was addressing was a fake headline someone made up about Mrs. Palin. For more information on this click Breitbart. Caution, Ms. Banks uses very vulgar language along with graphic depictions of what she thinks should be done to Mrs. Palin. Second, was to have an honest discussion about her views and my belief she is the true racist in this discussion. Third, to get some publicity to my site. A good Twitter feud is always good traffic, especially for a small site like ours.

I think I got a little more than I bargained for. Many of her 549K followers quickly came to her defense. Many were uneducated responses, but some had merit. Thankfully, some people also came to my defense. What struck me the most about this back and forth was just how uniformed many people are. I don’t believe half the people know what reparations or racism is. This seems to be Ms. Banks’ biggest point she is trying to sell. To be honest, I don’t feel she truly understands the meaning of the words. This is where the whole crux of my first tweet was about.

You can’t complain about reparations or racism if you yourself are truly a racist. I think the proof is in the pudding. I hope she is trying to portray that race relations in the United States are poor, even though she is using a very dishonest method. Let’s face it, race relations in this country are not the greatest, but they are a hell of a lot better than they were one-hundred years ago. I think we can also agree the current POTUS has been piss poor in improving race relations. Someone who is supposed to be great at uniting has done nothing but divide this country more.

I feel Ms. Banks is a racist. A racist by definition is one who believes their race is superior to another race, regardless of race. I will give her credit. She never once stated her race is superior to others, but like what many people do, she implied. It is completely fine if she is, but don’t bitch about racism if you are a racist. You will do nothing but continue to divide people of all colors. I guess you could consider her having a big platform with 549K followers. As uninformed of a platform it is, it’s still a platform. If your platform is to throw hate all over the place, then you are a sorry individual who will be judged when you finally meet your maker. That’s right, your maker. The same God who created me created you Ms. Banks. Deal with it!

Deal with the fact that as an influential African American artist, you are a role model. If you continue to spew hate, what do you think your 549k followers will do? What do you think all the young impressionable minds who love your music will think?

I’ve worked in the Social Service field for many years now, in a school setting and community setting. My favorite group of kids are kindergartners and first graders. Why? Because they have no idea what racism is and they could care less about the color of their best friend’s skin. All they care about is who is going to play a game with them at recess. All they care about is if little Johnny is going to get to come over and play after school. They don’t give a damn about reparations or what one group of people did to another group of people throughout the history of this world. We are all born into this world without preconceived beliefs and biases. We are taught these beliefs and biases at home, school and out in the community. Through good parenting, we are taught about the struggles of people throughout time. We are taught about the brutality of man and the right and wrong decisions man has made over time. Good parenting also teaches us that people make mistakes, but we don’t dwell on them, we improve them. We learn from our mistakes. Good parenting teaches you that the only person who owes you something is yourself. It is your own responsibility to make this world a better place to live. Let me ask you this Ms. Banks, are you making this world a better place?

Ms. Banks, you saw the firestorm you created with the ridiculous tweet you made about Sarah Palin. Not to mention the continuous amount of ridiculous tweets you continue to make. I beg all of you to ask yourselves if you think Ms. Banks is making this world a better place.

Photo courtesy of galoremag.com

Again, the proof is in the pudding. If your comments are only dividing us, then you are not making this world a better place for me, you, my children or any children you might have. For that, you should be ashamed.

Reparations are never going to happen and you know this. You also stated you want the money so you and your people can go back to Africa and build your own future. How many people do you believe would do this? It’s a pipe dream. A thought that is unrealistic and extremely dangerous.

I understand your frustrations Ms. Banks. The thought of white Europeans invading Africa and taking many people back as slaves has to be disheartening for African Americans. Do you understand who was selling Africans to the white Europeans? Do you understand that white Europeans were also forced into slavery? This shouldn’t be a black or white thing. This should be a people thing. People of all color have done horrible things throughout history. For the love of God, the Jews had Jesus Christ crucified! Should we all hate Jews? They beat, tortured and degraded the Son of God! He let them do this to him. Why? So man could be free of sin.

Man has created many a sin throughout time. Many a sin that I or millions of other people living today didn’t create. If a young Asian man goes and robs a convenient store and kills the clerk, should we condemn all Asian people? Should we hold his parents legally responsible? People make mistakes. It’s life.

I understand there is still a form of oppression. I understand kids grow up in poverty and don’t have the same advantages as a rich kid. I understand many families are too worried about putting food on the table or where their next meal is going to come from. Through all this, it costs nothing to teach your child right from wrong. It cost nothing to teach your child the mistakes of mankind and to teach them they must move on and create a better world. It costs nothing to get your child an education and it costs absolutely nothing to teach your child to dream big. In the end, the dreams are all we have. It’s up to you as a person to try to make that dream come true for yourself and your fellow human.

Mathare Valley Slum, Nairobi, Kenya - Click on photo for the link to the article providing the picture.

Poverty is all around us. Every nation has poverty. Do a Google search of “slums around the world.” Look at the pictures. It is absolutely devastating and makes you appreciative of what we have in this great country. My mom always told me, “Be thankful for what you have, because there is always someone somewhere that has it much worse.”

Ms. Banks, I feel it’s time for you to take a step back and forget about all your hate for just a few minutes and consider the opportunity you have. Think about your life and how much it has improved over time, then think about what you might do to make it better. Is sending out a bunch of hateful tweets really the best thing to do? I understand hate sells better than talking about rainbows and unicorns. I’ve listened to a few of your songs and they are really good. My only problem is the amount of “N” words in them. I would be happy to share a few, but I have a strict policy of not promoting any music that uses that word. It has nothing to do with who is saying the word. I simply don’t like the word. I believe it sounds ignorant when anyone says it regardless of their skin color. For years I’ve taught kids I have worked with the meaning of the word and the ignorance behind it. I’ve tried to instill in them the hatred the word causes. Wouldn’t it be a much better place if we completely banned the use of the word?

I have to believe deep down you are a good person and want to do good things. I want to believe what you say is just an act and that you privately teach kids around this country the importance of being respectful towards their fellow human. I want to believe you don’t preach to impressionable young minds to hate people just because the color of their skin. In reality, at this moment, you are preaching and teaching hate. I told you I would pray for you, and I will. I will pray you have a better understanding in how your words can be used to unite instead of divide. I will pray you are someone able to move on from the travesty others of all colors have done to others. You may not sell as many records, but you will be a lot more respected by people of all different colors. In the end, isn’t respect from others what we want, what we crave? You do your part, and I’ll do mine.

Thanks for reading.

Maxim

P.S. - Ms. Bank has been offered an interview to defend herself. At this moments she has declined.

The objections you take to AB's perspective stem from a system of white supremacy and one-sided history. I know, because I grew up with the same lies that you've been handed.

Be careful of conflating prejudice, bigotry, and racism as all the same thing. They are very different. No black person can possibly be a racist, because racism requires systems and power. Systems and power are things only white people have historically held.

If you can't hear it from a person of color, hear it from a stay woke white girl. http://debbyirving.com/qa/are-prejudice-bigotryand-racism-the-same-thing/

If you need a broader historical context for AB's perspective, read this: https://t.co/tALJXqthfP

I hope you can read the article and see how AB's impassioned responses are completely correct and justified. Or, if you can't agree, at least gain some new perspective.

If you need more clarification on white supremacy/white fragility, you may find this helpful: https://t.co/JDmGerb616

Finally, I'll say this. Azealia Banks does not owe an explanation to you or any other white person. As white people, it is on us to re-think everything we've been taught about history and the treatment of people of color. The victims of this ancient crime are not obliged to keep explaining what they've known to be true for centuries. It's time for white people to educate themselves and start listening.